Human Events

Now It’s Dana’s Turn:

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May 11, 2004

California GOPer and immigration hawk Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, according to CQ Today, “is calling in his chit for supporting the 2003 Medicare law.”

It looks as though the House will soon be voting on Rohrabacher’s bill that would require hopitals to collect five specific pieces of information about foreign patients and send that information to a Department of Homeland Security database. If the patient is illegal, deportation proceedings would begin.

The reason for the bill and the coming vote is that Rohrbacher was willing to hold his nose and vote for the Medicare prescription drug bill in exchange for a promise from GOP leadership that his bill would get a floor vote. The Medicare bill included a provision that provides $250 million annually for four years to reimburse hospitals for the costs of treating illegal immigrants.